The present invention relates generally to an interface between a human user and a computerized relational database. More particularly, the invention is directed to methods, systems and programs for comprehensively and bilaterally translating between structured query language (SQL) statements and graphically depicted queries as may be used to search a computer implemented relational database.
Relational form databases have become the subject of significant recent interest, not only because of the increasing volume of data being stored and retrieved by computerized databases but also by virtue of the data relationships which can be established during the storage and retrieval processes.
Structured query language (SQL), and in particular the ANSI SQL, has become the preferred language media for communicating queries to relational databases. As a consequence, there presently exist thousands of relational databases and thousands of related queries directed to such databases. Given the investment in such databases and queries, migration is not only a desirable feature, but a substantially necessary capability for new relational database systems and methods.
The concept of portraying a query in a visual depiction on the screen of a workstation is a relatively new approach to relational database interfacing. Visual queries, often referred to as graphical queries, utilize workstation graphics to represent the query objectives heretofore defined by SQL statements. The visual query presents in a pictorial depiction the objectives of the search, thereby eliminating the need for the user to learn SQL, improving the rate at which SQL queries can be formulated, and reducing the defect or error rate of queries. It is well recognized that SQL, though computationally efficient, is a difficult language for users to master and apply.
With the growing prevalence of relational databases, communication networks and workstations, the training and experience of a representative system user has decreased in relation to the resources available. The dilemma created by these various events is threefold. First, there exists an established and valuable base of queries formulated with classical SQL expressions. Second, there is a growing usage of relational databases and networks accessing their information. Finally, the end users of such databases are routinely less proficient in the very tools needed to efficiently and accurately access the relational database information. Thus, a distinct need exists for methods, systems and programs which convert SQL query statements into visual representations understandable by novice database users, and, in the compliment, which convert graphically or visually represented queries into SQL format statements usable in existing databases and network environments.